Spatiomechanical Modulation of EphB4-Ephrin-B2 Signaling in Neural Stem Cell Differentiation.

Interactions between EphB4 receptor tyrosine kinases and their membrane-bound ephrin-B2 ligands on apposed cells play a regulatory role in neural stem cell differentiation. With both receptor and ligand constrained to move within the membranes of their respective cells, this signaling system inevitably experiences spatial confinement and mechanical forces in conjunction with receptor-ligand binding. In this study, we reconstitute the EphB4-ephrin-B2 juxtacrine signaling geometry using a supported-lipid-bilayer system presenting laterally mobile and monomeric ephrin-B2 ligands to live neural stem cells. This experimental platform successfully reconstitutes EphB4-ephrin-B2 binding, lateral clustering, downstream signaling activation, and neuronal differentiation, all in a configuration that preserves the spatiomechanical aspects of the natural juxtacrine signaling geometry. Additionally, the supported bilayer system allows control of lateral movement and clustering of the receptor-ligand complexes through patterns of physical barriers to lateral diffusion fabricated onto the underlying substrate. The results from this study reveal a distinct spatiomechanical effect on the ability of EphB4-ephrin-B2 signaling to induce neuronal differentiation. These observations parallel similar studies of the EphA2-ephrin-A1 system in a very different biological context, suggesting that such spatiomechanical regulation may be a common feature of Eph-ephrin signaling

Transforming Higher Education through Transformative Practice

Critical community psychology is characterised by a set of principles which guide practice. These include the deconstruction of assumptions that reinforce marginalisation and discrimination through critical consciousness, respect for diversity, an emphasis on equity and liberation. While these principles can be included in the content of courses and taught as guiding frameworks for future practitioners, to what extent do these principles guide educators in their practice? In this session we unpack the realities of the contemporary higher education sector and discuss the challenges associated with ensuring that students have voice and are active participants in their education. Using Tanaka’s framework of voice, power, authenticity, self-reflexivity, and reconstruction we analyse the development of the Behavioural Science programme at the University of Notre Dame to identify successes and opportunities for improvement that promote inclusion while educating for social change

Sporting Faith: Exploring Displays of Faith as Part of Christian Higher Education Athletic Program Identity

Contemporary higher education is made of a marketplace where institutions aggressively market themselves to student consumers who “shop” for school options (Tolbert, 2014). This study examines the marketing of faith-based higher education institutions’ athletic programs to determine how faith-related missions are revealed on institutional websites. Higher education institutions analyzed in this study consisted of 112 of the 141 member institutions that are members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), which compete in sanctioned intercollegiate athletics programs (e.g., NCAA, NAIA, NCCAA). The study attempted to quantify how strongly a university’s athletic program portrays the faith dimension of the school’s identity through the visual marketing tool of the athletic departments’ website to determine whether that measure is indicative of external perception. For this study, institutional websites were examined to measure the strength of faith identity presented on the sites using a content analysis of the university tagline, university mission statement, and athletic department mission statement. Faith expression was lacking in 53% of taglines and 33% of athletic department mission statements. Study results reflect that CCCU member institutions should streamline the faith expression of the university mission statement into the message conveyed in the tagline and the athletic department mission statement

Creating a custom-published textbook to facilitate curriculum change: An example from advanced accounting

According to Smith and DeRidder (1997), faculty select texts mainly for their comprehensibility to students and the timeliness of text material they contain. Further, Foran and Olds (2002) suggest students use textbooks as their primary means of acquiring background knowledge. However, many accounting texts have failed to keep abreast with changes in accounting practice and education (Rebele et al. 1998), creating an important barrier for accounting educators who desire to effect curriculum change. We illustrate how faculty can overcome this barrier and potentially make their courses more interesting and/or informative for students (Apostolou et al. 2001). By capitalizing on recent advances in technology, faculty can create custom-published textbooks that support their curriculum revision efforts. Based on our successful experiences in creating a custom-published textbook to support a revised Advanced Accounting course, we describe not only the logistics involved in, but also the benefits and challenges associated with, creating a custom-published text. The insights we gained can provide guidance for faculty members who want to revise their courses but have been constrained because they could not find an available textbook to support their curriculum revision activities

Applying the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm to the creation of an accounting ethics course

This article explains how and why the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP), a 450-year-old approach to education, can serve as a framework for a modern principles-based ethics course in accounting. The IPP takes a holistic view of the world, combining five elements: context, experience, reflection, action, and evaluation. We describe the components of the IPP and discuss how they align with suggestions from prior research for providing principles-based ethics instruction in accounting. We conclude by describing how we used the IPP as a framework to create a graduate-level accounting ethics course

The cost-effectiveness of nivolumab monotherapy for the treatment of advanced melanoma patients in England

Background: Nivolumab was the first programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor to demonstrate long-term survival benefit in a clinical trial setting for advanced melanoma patients. Objective: To evaluate the cost effectiveness of nivolumab monotherapy for the treatment of advanced melanoma patients in England. Methods: A Markov state-transition model was developed to estimate the lifetime costs and benefits of nivolumab versus ipilimumab and dacarbazine for BRAF mutation-negative patients and versus ipilimumab, dabrafenib, and vemurafenib for BRAF mutation-positive patients. Covariate-adjusted parametric curves for time to progression, pre-progression survival, and post-progression survival were fitted based on patient-level data from two trials and long-term ipilimumab survival data. Indirect treatment comparisons between nivolumab, ipilimumab, and dacarbazine were informed by these covariate-adjusted parametric curves, controlling for differences in patient characteristics. Kaplan–Meier data from the literature were digitised and used to fit progression-free and overall survival curves for dabrafenib and vemurafenib. Patient utilities and resource use data were based on trial data or the literature. Patients are assumed to receive nivolumab until there is no further clinical benefit, assumed to be the first of progressive disease, unacceptable toxicity, or 2 years of treatment. Results: Nivolumab is the most cost-effective treatment option in BRAF mutation-negative and mutation-positive patients, with incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of £24,483 and £17,362 per quality-adjusted life year, respectively. The model results are most sensitive to assumptions regarding treatment duration for nivolumab and the parameters of the fitted parametric survival curves. Conclusions: Nivolumab is a cost-effective treatment for advanced melanoma patients in England

Circadian Activity Rhythms for Mothers with an Infant in ICU

Circadian rhythms influence sleep and wakefulness. Circadian activity rhythms (CAR) are altered in individuals with dementia or seasonal affective disorder. To date, studies exploring CAR and sleep in postpartum women are rare. The purpose of this report is to describe relationships between CAR, sleep disturbance, and fatigue among 72 first-time mothers during their second week postpartum while their newborn remain hospitalized in intensive care unit. Seventy-two mothers were included in this secondary data analysis sample from three separate studies. Participants completed the general sleep disturbance scale (GSDS), numerical rating scale for fatigue, and a sleep diary. The objective sleep data included total sleep time (TST), wake after sleep onset (WASO), and CAR determined by the circadian quotient (amplitude/mesor) averaged from at least 48-h of wrist actigraphy monitoring. The TST of mothers who self-reported as poor sleepers was 354 min (SEM = 21.9), with a mean WASO of 19.5% (SEM = 2.8). The overall sleep quality measured by the GSDS was clinically, significantly disrupted (M = 5.5, SD = 1.2). The mean score for morning fatigue was 5.8 (SD = 2.0), indicating moderate fatigue severity. The CAR was 0.62 (SEM = 0.04), indicating poor synchronization. The self-reported good sleepers (GSDS < 3) had better CAR (M = 0.71, SEM = 0.02) than poor sleepers (GSDS > 3) (t[70] = 2.0, p < 0.05). A higher circadian equation was associated with higher TST (r = 0.83, p < 0.001), less WASO (r = −0.50, p < 0.001), lower self-reported sleep disturbance scores (r = −0.35, p = 0.01), and less morning fatigue (r = −0.26). Findings indicate that mothers with a hospitalized infant have both nocturnal sleep problems and disturbed circadian activity rhythms. Factors responsible for these sleep and rhythm disturbances, the adverse effects on mother's physical and mental well-being, and mother–infant relationship require further study

Rapid and sensitive insulated isothermal PCR for point-of-need feline leukaemia virus detection

Objectives: Feline leukaemia virus (FeLV), a gamma retrovirus, causes diseases of the feline haematopoietic system that are invariably fatal. Rapid and accurate testing at the point-of-need (PON) supports prevention of virus spread and management of clinical disease. This study evaluated the performance of an insulated isothermal PCR (iiPCR) that detects proviral DNA, and a reverse transcription (RT)-iiPCR that detects both viral RNA and proviral DNA, for FeLV detection at the PON. Methods: Mycoplasma haemofelis, feline coronavirus, feline herpesvirus, feline calicivirus and feline immunodeficiency virus were used to test analytical specificity. In vitro transcribed RNA, artificial plasmid, FeLV strain American Type Culture Collection VR-719 and a clinical FeLV isolate were used in the analytical sensitivity assays. A retrospective study including 116 clinical plasma and serum samples that had been tested with virus isolation, real-time PCR and ELISA, and a prospective study including 150 clinical plasma and serum samples were implemented to evaluate the clinical performances of the iiPCR-based methods for FeLV detection. Results: Ninety-five percent assay limit of detection was calculated to be 16 RNA and five DNA copies for the RT-iiPCR, and six DNA copies for the iiPCR. Both reactions had analytical sensitivity comparable to a reference real-time PCR (qPCR) and did not detect five non-target feline pathogens. The clinical performance of the RT-iiPCR and iiPCR had 98.82% agreement (kappa[κ] = 0.97) and 100% agreement (κ = 1.0), respectively, with the qPCR (n = 85). The agreement between an automatic nucleic extraction/RT-iiPCR system and virus isolation to detect FeLV in plasma or serum was 95.69% (κ = 0.95) and 98.67% (κ = 0.85) in a retrospective (n = 116) and a prospective (n = 150) study, respectively. Conclusions and relevance: These results suggested that both RT-iiPCR and iiPCR assays can serve as reliable tools for PON FeLV detection